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The major influence on my musical thinking is:-
PSYCHE OF PLACE - landscape, space, sun, etc.
There is nothing nationalistic in my music. It is about being aware of PLACE - where you live and how you fit. Even if you live in the city, the vast space of the interior is a part of one's psyche, as much as the surf and the ocean are an everpresent reality. That is, unless your 'body' is here and your 'head' is in Europe or somewhere else.
For some years I have been interested in Australian Aboriginal music. The origins of this were a social awareness that Australian Aboriginals had little say in controlling their own destinies (too many decisions being made by whites) and that black culture and attitudes had not impinged greatly on white thinking even after 200 years. The ignominy of this being that such a two-way flow between cultures could only have enriched both cultures and created a closer understanding of each other.
As a musician it seemed to me that there were aspects of Australian Aboriginal music that intrinsically reflected something of the larger environment. In the same way that Classical music reflected aspects of the elegant or refined culture of the courts of Europe, could not the flatness of the didjeridoo, the nasal vocal styles, the repetitive phrases and 'perceived' stasis of Australian Aboriginal music similarly reflect aspects of culture and landscape in Australia? Whether such a subliminal relationship exists or whether it is merely coincidence, it was enough to inspire a personal enquiry and, for me, a point of departure for musical exploration.
My current preoccupation is: -........................
URBAN PSYCHOSCAPES - more internal/psychological states
- finding something of the essence of a writer/poet (& sampling their voice),
which, when integrated with the music adds an almost theatrical or meta-musical dimension.
W.S.Burroughs wrote that 'happiness is a by-product of function'. We presently live in an age of despair. If you have work - you have a function. If you have money - you have some power. If you conform - you live. If you don't have these things - you are driven towards despair, even suicide.
Society has turned, or been forced, along a path of selfishness which leaves the individual with a sense of ‘not belongong’.
The motto for survival: - 'I'm alright Jack ... F u c k Y o u P a l'
This aspect of society must also be expressed as a part of our psyche...
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